It’s not rocket science, but that doesn’t make it easy!

with guest blogger Rachael Johns

Australian women's fiction author Rachael Johns

Excuse me if this blog post is a little all over the place. My house almost burnt down this week, I’m in the midst of HELLISH revisions for my next women’s fiction, and the proposal for my next category romance was just rejected. That’s right, rejection happens even after you’re published and it hurts just as bad. Needless to say, this week things have been a little hectic in my life – my brain switching between dealing with insurance companies, trying to make The Art of Keeping Secrets (next WF) even better, and working out a total new plot for my next category romance (a Special Edition in my new series The McKinnels of Jewell Rock).

These days I’m a commercial fiction writer – I do this gig for my full-time job and I get paid (yay) to do it. This sounds like a dream come true, right? And, of course, in many ways it is. But things have changed from when I was first writing ALL those years ago (1997 to be exact) and only dreaming of being published.

In those days I stole time to write on weekends, when my kids napped or when my husband watched TV at night, but these days I wave my tribe off to school and work, and then I sit down at the computer and write. I do this whether I want to or not, whether the muse is playing nice or AWOL, because I have contracts, deadlines and private school fees to pay.

And like any job, it’s NOT ALWAYS EASY.

There are bad reviews, edits from publishers that make you want to throw yourself off cliffs and sometimes a book you really want to write isn’t the book your employer wants you to write, so you have to come up with something new. You have to manufacture an idea. I find this particularly hard because I am not one of those writers who has exercise books full of ideas for future novels. And the more books I write, the more I doubt about whether I’m actually any good at writing books at all.

You have to have a tough skin and you have to be resilient to write fiction for a living; a bunch of really wonderful writing friends who understand the highs and lows is also a must. You have to be able to write through crippling self-doubt and disappointment, and even when your muse is nowhere in sight.

With being a full-time writer comes the responsibility of being able to keep coming up with fresh story ideas, to write a book that is even BETTER than your last one. I’m blessed to have a whole host of devoted readers who are waiting for my next book, but with this comes a kind of pressure that wasn’t there when writing was essentially a hobby. It might not be brain surgery or rocket science but life as a commercial fiction writer is NOT for the faint-hearted.

A few of Rachael Johns published works

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot I love about being an author – getting new covers, seeing my books on shelves, getting reader letters from die-hard fans, and of course the fact I get to work from home in my PJs. But I just want to get it out there that getting published might seem like a massive hurdle when you’re first starting out, but be prepared for the fact that publication is only the first mountain you will have to climb.

Love to Love: Nashville (totally addicted at the moment). Oh, and my house not burning down this week – that was pretty cool!

Love to Laugh: With English comedian, Michael McIntyre – his stand-up skits about parenting are hilarious (check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFQfylQ2Jgg)

Love to Learn: about plot. I love craft books and usually I buy them and barely look at them, but right now I’m reading AlexandraSokoloff’s Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors 2 and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! 

An excerpt from Rachael Johns' March 2016 release...
Outback Sisters

Frankie and Simone are sisters and best friends. Could a new man in town drive a wedge between them for the first time ever?

Cafe owner Frankie has been unlucky in love all her life. It’s hard in a small town like Bunyip Bay to meet prospective partners. Her sister, Simone, lost the love of her life years before and is now devoted to raising their two teenage girls, leaving little time for romance. When Frankie is kissed by a handsome stranger who calls her Simone, it’s a case of mistaken identity – but who is this man and how does he know Simone?

Read more and purchase via Rachael's website.